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Today's update is a drawing and not an entire comic, expressing what I consider some intense wish fulfillment. Those of you in the northwest US probably know there's a terrible heat wave going on - over 100 degrees for the past 2 days. I was not really prepared for this after returning from San Diego, and spent the better part of today unsuccessfully searching for an air conditioner. Portlanders certainly aren't used to heat; as a result, appliance stores were bare by mid-afternoon.
A lot of you on Twitter were concerned, but no worries, I'll be fine. It's just been a very long day. Stay cool until Friday!
In the meantime, I've written a little summary of San Diego Comic Con, which you can read by scrolling down or clicking here.
52 thoughts on “Heat Interlude – It Sure Is Kind of Hot”
Almost Literally
First thought: Sweet, time travel by freezing!
Oneiros
Yeah, it's been about that hot up here in the Vancouver area. I spent half the day in my parents' swimming pool and the other half taking a cold shower. Not happy.
Andrew
You should have moved to Arkansas. 100º+90% humidity days are expected in July and August here (as it is with much of the south). Luckily we are (usually) fully prepared for heat.
Sylan0
aww, give us our heat back =(
up here in ontario canada we havent had nearly the heat we're used to, we normally have 30 (degree) plus days, for like a month strait every year, meanwhile in the past 3 years combined we've had like 10 days like that tops,. the weathers been really screwwy lately, and it kinda sucks =/
J-Parm
As a fellow Portlander: holy hell it is hot. This is the hottest I can remember it being in Portland in the time I've been here. Too hot to write, think, eat, go outside…too hot to sleep, half the time.
Katie B
My boyfriend just moved over the river from you actually, we had just figured that every-day Baltimore ballsack weather just followed him over there, ha ha!
Hang in there! I can completely relate to this in DC!
Inanimate
Haha, yeah, Washington isn't so great either. Luckily, I love almost every temperature, so I'm almost always comfortable. Sleeping is awkward though.
Michaela
Aww, you got some southern CA heat up there. 3: I feel you. It hit 120 degrees here today. And I can't afford to fix my cars AC
dartigen
Coming from Australia, I'm used to the heat. We had one week earlier this year (you might've heard about it over there, not sure) where it didn't drop below 40 Celsius for nearly a week. The tips I can give are: keep drinking water, sleep on the floor (put blankets down if you haven't got comfy carpet) and whether you have an aircon or not, invest in some heavy drapes – they are a LIFESAVER.
Wishing for your weather right now, we're busy freezing our butts off here. Come to Adelaide, where you roast for half of the year and freeze for the other!
Phazzer
Bah. Here in phoenix we deal with 110 degree weather for more than half the year. People who complain about that heat make me laugh.
meredith
Don't be an ass. Your town is prepared to deal with this type of weather. We're not – and it's not funny.
Gibbs
For reals–I just moved back from semi-desert in Southern California, and one of the things I didn't miss was the oppressive heat.
What my grandma did yesterday to get an air conditioner was call to ask when they got deliveries and made sure to be there when the delivery arrived (they were out again in less than an hour).
Crystal
AZ is dry heat, this is not the humidity they get in the east, but since we rarely break 90, and hardly anyone has ac, since we don't normally get temps like this, people get ill or DIE. Thanks, but this heat sucks!
Michael Stearns
I bet you laugh when people complain about scorpions, too.
Bruceski
I don't care how tough a cowboy you are; being startled by a tarantula while on the toilet is freaky as hell.
MotaHed
Seriously, I lived in Phoenix for the last decade, and this feels *exactly* like Phoenix. 105 in the day, cooling off to a downright chilly* 85 overnight … (*note the sarcasm). The thing is, almost NO ONE in Portland has AC. In Phoenix, you never (rarely) leave the AC! If Phoenix had a 105 day with no AC, people would be having a rough time, too.
Omega
Hmm… I bet you'd be complaining if it gets as cold as it does during an Ohio winter (somewhere in the mid 'teens)
David Waltergart
That's kind of funny. Having been to Phoenix I REALLY want to mention that I've always liked a place with lush, green plants and not having to plant rocks to have a garden.
How's your water bill, by the way?
In Ontario, I think the problem is we're missing out on weather so hot that we _have_ to stop working so hard. WASPish values still dominate the region and it takes a natural phenomenon to break our machine-like stride. We miss the hot spells, it's true. On the other hand, it's nice not to worry about the trees getting enough water for a change.
I haven't needed AC for 2 summers.
Mason
Chicago's been a mix of extremely humid and all time lows…
CassSu
Gah! I'm in Seattle & I feel your pain! or, I guess, mine. Last night at 10pm I was drinking a cold beer in a cold shower, having run out of other ideas.
-and yeah, I grew up with heat like this too, but in a city that was prepared for it, and without the humidity. It's different.
MNsane
time to drink scary amounts of ice water
Sheldon
I live in Portland now as well, and I'm from Vegas, but I still say its freaking hot. I just had them replace the air conditioner in both my office and apartment, but now I'm getting that weird "What's real air feel like" feeling… BTW, welcome to PDX
Northwestie
Sounds like Spokane last summer. I went everywhere trying to find an air conditioner and eventually had to kill a man.
Um, no. But I found one! Don't give up the search, Mer!
exjentric
Wisconsin here, where we're prepared for hot-heat and sub-zero. I'm the sort who thrives on heat, because it's a great excuse not to do anything. "Uh, it's too hot to clean/work/be social/cook. I'm just going to sit in the bath and munch on grapes."
exjentric
Also, this drawing would also be great on a pint glass. Methinks.
Veronica
All that inland heat is drawing some cold & crappy weather up onto the coast here in Eureka. We're getting highs in the mid-60s in town; it's like March all over again 🙁
typicalspoon
just for reference, y'all: tuesday's high of 106° was the hottest portland temperature on record since 1981. it's supposed to be as hot wednesday if not hotter, and if it goes above 107 it will be the hottest temp the city will have ever seen since records began 100 years ago.
average for this time of year here is 80-ish, so residential AC is rare. this ain't the south, the southwest, or the dang tropics; many live here to avoid this kind of thing, specifically.
stay cool, meredith. take refuge underground or something.
Bubbles
Then I am moving to Portland, because that is downright lovely compared to South Texas. (No, really, after nearly 30 years, I'm sick of it. Portland sounds nice.) And to be fair, everyone in the north makes fun of us when we freak out because it's going to get down to 20 one day during the winter. There was insane insanity the day it snowed here for the first time in a hundred years. (Now, I'm not sure I can survive somewhere that has actual winter.)
typicalspoon
i recommend it! you'll find more than a few texas transplants up here, for the same reasons. they go back down for ACL, though, in the thick of the heat season, but you know how that is no doubt.
Almost Literally
Wow…I can't even imagine that heat. It is in the seventies and eighties here in Tennessee and I'm already uncomfortable. I hope you all don't have trouble cooling down.
Megan
Yeah, I feel ya. I live in Texas. South Texas. When it's not 110 degrees, I get wary of what insane weather is coming.
K
Yeah, it's like that all summer down here in Texas. I have a fan sitting in front of me for the majority of the day.
Also Recently Moved
We just moved to Portland from Seattle; SW facing, first floor apartment, and we were dying yesterday. Our poor cats! After striking out on ACs, we hit the Hawthorne Fred Meyer for a fan and some ice blocks (sold out!), but we managed to overhear someone talking about a little hardware store that (improbably) had a surplus stock of fans *and* ACs.
Sure enough, 11th and Stark, they had a ton of both. They also had a 2.5 hour long line to buy one. Waiting in line was unpleasant, but the guy running the store was offering people water or a beer during the wait. I'm so glad we stuck it out, our apartment is now reasonably cool and it's lovely.
They were getting another huge shipment in today at 10:30 this morning, and again Thursday morning. If you head down there soon you'll likely have some luck in getting one, just be sure to bring a book or some company.
Stay cool!
typicalspoon
that particular hardware store is the place to go for unexpected weather-related needs, all seasons. so if it snows like the dickens again this winter and you need a shovel to find your car, they got ya covered.
eenie
Yeah what's up with that hardware store? I've never actually been in it, but I've always noticed the big banners up advertising snow shovels (well, I guess they're not advertising snow shovels *now*), and, you know… we just don't usually get enough snow here that it's worth shoveling. Except of course this past winter.
Go climate change!
Bruceski
I grew up in the New Mexico desert, and a couple things have taken me by surprise during this heat wave:
–humidity. It's got nothing on places like Austin, but it's enough that the heat follows you. In NM you can drop 25 degrees moving into the shade, because dry air doesn't carry heat well.
–consistency. The desert is a place of extremes, and while it was hot during the day it was cold at night. That also meant that things could get done in the morning/evening before it got too bad. Here it's still 85-90 in the middle of the night! Not fun.
Fortunately I fixed my AC yesterday morning (had a second filter I'd missed that was clogged so bad there was no airflow), so I slept well for the first time in three days. My cat's kept cool too, and I keep him watered. Stay cool and safe out there, fellow Portlanders!
John K
good luck keeping cool!
mudtowncomics
Yeah, it's been a strange in Portland this year, weatherwise. I don't think you were around for this, but last December we had one of the heaviest snowfalls on record. And just like the heat, this city is very much not used to dealing with snow and ice.
Angela
Geeeze yeah the Northwest has been BAKING these past couple days.
I just came back from visiting NC and I thought that was bad. Haha…yeah
Briget
Ack. That is completely terrible. I highly recommend hiding out in your local library or something. Those places are usually air conditioned, if only for the sake of humidity. One thing I've done when it's been oppressively hot and terrible here was to wrap icecubes in a thin towel and then soak it in water and put it on the back of my neck. It works pretty well for cooling your body down. : )
Also, I really like today's interlude and I would totally wear it on a shirt!
Wolfidy
I'm up here in Ft. Lewis and melting. First thought upon seeing today's drawing: DOWANT!
wiretap
In seattle it's still about 4 degrees away from making me get AC. If it hit 106 I think I'd break down.
DoctorMarmalade
Okay, anyone ever realize that eve ning's name minus the space makes evening? I mean… HOW didnt I notice that.
MollyBat
UGH I feel you…. I'm working at an outdoor arts camp here in ptown and it was BRUTAL today. Hardly any kids showed up, but all of the staff did and got to sit around OUTSIDE ALL DAY IN 107 DEGREE HEAT. We made a run to 7/11 at lunch for slurpees and they were all out. 7/11 out of slurpees? NO WAY
It is terrible. And I've been living in Tucson for the past two years, and despite it being that hot there all the time, it never is a big deal. When I'm in Tucson, I sit in my air conditioned house all day and am nice and cool. In portland…. not so much. My family and I are camped out at an (air-conditioned) hotel tonight.
I'm a native portlander and this is the hottest I've ever experienced here.
fish1589
PUT THAT ON A T-SHIRT!!!!!
Sheldon
To those of you in PDX looking for air conditioners, if you hit the Gresham Home Depot for instance, they have plenty…. My boss just bought a new one for the office, and he said they had tons there
truffle
Been pretty hot up in Austin, but I for one am gladder than anything for it. I love the heat, and spending my first winter in New York I love it all the more. Sweating til your clothes are drenched I can deal with; not being able to get out of bed because it's so friggin cold and dark I cannot. All I'm worried about is the dangerously low lake levels.
You'd be fine without an AC (I didn't have one growing up)– just either open the door or stay outside in the shade. And water. There's always some unfortunate people dying every year because they forgot to drink water.
MerchManDan
Oh, it's an ICE cube!! For a few seconds I thought our heroines were engulfed by a GELATINOUS cube, and was wondering why Hanna would be so happy about being digested by a monster out of D&D.
Justellian
Thank goodness SOMEone else saw it as a GC!
(the odds of one's perceptions being a hallucination go down as the number of people who share those perceptions go up; I'm now 50% less likely to be hallucinating! Huzzah!)
…
('course, hallucinating or not, I think we're still scoring pretty high on the Nerdometer…)
Ooooo – I bet that's enough NP* to level up!
(Now, I wonder if I should take another level in Nerd or if I should go for a prestige class. Maybe I could be a
Foolomancer…?)
* Nerd Points, of course
Tillie
As a Texan struggling through a summer of 100+ degree heat, that sure does look wonderful.
ohgodwhy
Luckily, I live on the southern Oregon coast and we haven't been hit by it but my friends in Portland and Eugene are having a rough time because AC isn't a necessity in these yonder parts of Orygun. The Northwest isn't used to this kind of heat so it's weird.
Good luck, and I'll be moving to Portland and joining you in the heat in a month. Misery loves company!
Kayla
I feel your pain! We're having really high temps here in Montana, too. Totally not used to this kind of weather this far north. :/
Good luck staying cool!